


when you feel just like a tourist

by nightswatch



Series: transatlanticism [4]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-21
Updated: 2014-08-21
Packaged: 2018-02-14 04:18:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2177616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightswatch/pseuds/nightswatch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Enjolras gets a very special birthday surprise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	when you feel just like a tourist

_You: excited for your birthday yet?_

_Enjolras: You know how I feel about my birthday._

_You: well i thought that maybe you’ve changed your mind_

_Enjolras: I didn’t._

_You: what got you all grumpy_

_Enjolras: It’s nothing._

Grantaire waited for a couple of seconds, knowing full well that there was definitely _something_ that was bothering him. And Enjolras was probably going to spit it out sooner or later.

_Enjolras: I just really miss you and it would have been nice to have you here. I know that’s exactly the same thing I said Christmas, but we hardly had time to talk during the last couple of weeks._

_Enjolras: That obviously wasn’t your fault._

_You: i’m well aware that it was your fault and not mine ;)_

_You: anyway_

_You: i told you i’ll probably have enough money to buy plane tickets soon_

_Enjolras: A one-way ticket would be more than enough._

_You: :p_

Grantaire was actually a little surprised with how well he’d kept his secret. He’d had to tell Enjolras that he’d come there soon, otherwise he would have grown suspicious, but other than that he hadn’t mentioned anything about him going to Paris.

It was hard, though, especially when Enjolras told him that he missed him or when he looked like a kicked puppy every time they had to hang up on Skype.

_Enjolras: By the way, I probably won’t have time to call you on my birthday. I know I promised I would, but Courfeyrac said that he’s made plans and I suppose I’ll have to go along with that, whatever it is. I’m really sorry._

_You: enjolras it’s your birthday you can do whatever you want._

If everything went as planned, Grantaire would be sitting next to him in Paris. He could only hope that nothing went wrong.

_Enjolras: Well, I do want to see you._

_You: i bet Courfeyrac’s surprise is great too_

_Enjolras: He’ll probably make me drink my body weight in alcohol._

_You: i hope he does_

_You: promise you’ll send me drunk texts_

_Enjolras: I certainly won’t._

_You: you’re no fun_

_You: see it this way_

_You: you’re gonna get cake and presents and combeferre and courfeyrac will probably do whatever you want them to do_

_Enjolras: I still don’t like birthdays._

_Enjolras: You could call me tomorrow after your shift. It won’t be my birthday in New York, but it will be here._

_You: aw man i’m sorry but there’s a thing I’m going to with jehan :(_

_Enjolras: Oh, what kind of thing?_

_You: it’s like a reading_

_You: from his work_

_You: he wanted me to come with him and i already promised i’d go_

The truth was that tomorrow he’d run home from his shift at the café, he’d grab his suitcase, which he’d meant to pack days ago but was still glaringly empty, and then Jehan and Bahorel would take him to the airport. The next day, on Enjolras’ birthday, he’d land in Paris.

He was still waiting to spontaneously combust because he was so terribly anxious.

Grantaire had never set foot on a plane. He knew that there were people who loved flying, Jehan was one of them, but he knew that there were also nervous flyers and Grantaire was already convinced that he was one of the latter.

_Enjolras: Have fun with Jehan, then. Maybe I’ll text you after all._

_You: :)_

_You: i have to go now, i’ll talk to you later or tomorrow or something_

_Enjolras: Okay, I wanted to bed soon anyway._

_You: sleep well x_

_Enjolras: You too xx_

“Right then,” Grantaire mumbled, plugged in his phone and turned to his suitcase and the mess of clothes on his bed. He’d made an attempt at packing before Enjolras had started texting him, but that had been mainly him dumping the contents of his closet onto his bed to see what he should bring.

He tossed a couple of random pairs of socks and boxers into his suitcase and then went on to inspect his shirts. He was pretty sure that fifty percent of the shirts he owned were relics from concerts he’d gone to.

A couple of minutes later, Jehan appeared in the doorway. “How’s it going?”

“Let’s see,” Grantaire said, frowning at a shirt that had tons of strange stains from bartending at the club on it. “I don’t own any decent clothes, I have to fly across a giant body of water in a metal tin tomorrow, oh, and I’ll probably be broke once I get back from Paris.”

“But you have another gig in like a month, don’t you?” Jehan asked and sat down on his bed. “So you probably won’t be broke for long. And I’ll sell some of your CDs and maybe a couple of shirts and, I mean, you still have me, I won’t let you starve.”

“I still owe you two hundred bucks,” Grantaire grumbled. Jehan was right, though, his gigs usually went pretty well and some people had even been willing to pay for the songs he’d recorded a couple of months ago, so he’d probably be able to pay him back soon. At first he had to make sure that he’d have enough money for the two weeks he was about to spend in Paris, though.

Jehan only hummed and yanked a black button-down shirt out of the pile of clothes. “What about this one?”

“Yeah, no,” Grantaire said and threw a couple of faded band shirts into the suitcase.

“What if he takes you out to dinner?” Jehan asked. “You can’t wear a fifteen year old Pink Floyd shirt for that.”

“He won’t,” Grantaire said decidedly.

“But think of all the great sex you’re going to get with that shirt on,” Jehan said, waving said shirt around in front of Grantaire’s nose. “Well, not _with_ that shirt on, but you know what I mean. You look hot in that shirt.”

Grantaire eyed the shirt for a second, snatched it away from Jehan and it joined the Pink Floyd shirt. It would probably be wrinkled beyond recognition when he landed in Paris, but Jehan did have a point. He didn’t look too bad in that shirt.

“You can thank me when you get back,” Jehan said with a wink and kept handing him random items of clothing.

An hour later, Grantaire was convinced that he had everything he needed, which was exactly what he’d meant to achieve, since he wouldn’t have time to do any more packing tomorrow.

“Please tell me everything’s going to be fine,” Grantaire mumbled and sat down next to Jehan, who pulled him into a hug immediately.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” Jehan said firmly and kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t worry, you’ll have two wonderful weeks.”

“Actually ten days, but who’s counting.” He sighed. “What if we argue?”

Jehan laughed. “Then you’ll make up again.”

“What if… I don’t know, what if he doesn’t want me there? I mean, he didn’t invite me.”

“Hasn’t he been telling you how much he misses you for the past half year?” Jehan said and squeezed him tightly. “Seriously, Grantaire, he’ll be so happy to see you, I can promise you that.”

“I’m nervous,” Grantaire whispered.

“I know,” Jehan said and ruffled his hair. “It’s okay to be nervous. But it’ll go away.”

Grantaire nodded, not sure if he believed Jehan. “I hope so.”

Jehan gave him another kiss, then he sat up. “Don’t forget to bring me a little Eiffel Tower, okay?”

* * *

“Good morning.”

Enjolras groaned and rolled onto his stomach, burying his face in his pillow. He’d been hoping that they’d let him sleep in. Hell, usually Courfeyrac slept in on Fridays, too, and sometimes even Combeferre did, because neither of them had any classes to go to.

On the bright side, it was Combeferre who’d come to wake him up and not an over-excited Courfeyrac like the year before. He could feel his mattress dip, but Combeferre remained blessedly silent for at least another five minutes, giving him enough time to wake up properly.

“Too early?” Combeferre asked after a while.

Enjolras only grunted in reply but turned over so could look up at Combeferre, who was sitting right next to him, holding a cup of what seemed to be coffee. Enjolras eyed it thoughtfully. “Coffee?”

“Sit up,” Combeferre said and handed him the mug as soon as he was in an upright position.

He gave Enjolras a few more minutes to drink some coffee, waited patiently until Enjolras had set down the mug on his nightstand and then wrapped an arm around him.

“Happy birthday, Enjolras,” he said quietly.

“Thanks,” Enjolras whispered. It was too silent in their apartment, it was starting to unsettle him a little. “Where’s Courfeyrac?”

“There’s an errand he needed to run, so he allowed me to wake you up today. I was actually going to let you sleep in, but he’ll be back with your present soon and we need you to be awake for that.”

“Your present?” Enjolras asked. “As in a present from both of you? You actually found something you agreed on giving to me?”

Combeferre laughed. “Yeah, it was a bit of a struggle, but we eventually found something we both thought you’d like.”

Enjolras was actually starting to get a little curious now, because Combeferre’s and Courfeyrac’s presents were usually as different as night and day. “Well, I actually can’t wait to see what that is.”

“You’re excited for something that happens on your birthday, I think that’s a breakthrough,” Combeferre said and nudged him. “I’ll get you breakfast. Courfeyrac was going to get something from the bakery, but…” Combeferre trailed off and blushed.

“But?” Enjolras prompted.

“He didn’t get out of bed as quickly as he’d planned,” Combeferre said quickly. “What do you want for breakfast?”

Enjolras sighed. “Cereal is fine.”

“Are you sure, because I can-”

“’Ferre, it’s fine,” Enjolras said insistently. “No need to make a fuss.”

Combeferre smiled, nodded and then disappeared, leaving Enjolras alone. He picked up his phone to see if there were any more messages from Grantaire waiting for him, but the ones he’d got a couple of minutes past midnight were still the latest ones.

_Grantaire: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!_

_Grantaire: i’m in a bit of a hurry but have a great day :)_

_Grantaire: don’t forget to drunk text me xxx_

Enjolras checked the time. It was 9 AM – three o’clock in the morning in New York.

“Texting Grantaire?” Combeferre asked when he returned with a bowl of cereal for Enjolras.

Enjolras shook his head. “He texted me at midnight, I mean, when it was midnight here, but he’s probably sleeping right now.”

Combeferre smiled. “Yeah, probably.”

“So, what do you have planned for today? Or should I ask what _Courfeyrac_ has planned for today?” Enjolras asked. He knew that Combeferre knew. Combeferre knew everything.

“The usual,” Combeferre said. “Cake, presents, copious amounts of alcohol.”

Enjolras groaned. “Sounds fantastic.”

“We can stay in and order takeout if you want,” Combeferre said, smiling at him.

“But I want the cake,” Enjolras mumbled.

“Then you probably won’t get around coming to the Musain with us.”

“Can’t we just tell Musichetta to bring the cake to me? It’s _my_ birthday.”

Combeferre hummed. “We can try.”

“You’re a good friend,” Enjolras mumbled and then took to finishing his cereal.

He and Combeferre sat in silence for a while and Enjolras was actually starting to think that maybe this birthday wasn’t going to be all that bad. Actually, his other birthdays with his friends hadn’t been all that bad either, Enjolras just really wasn’t too keen on partying all night long, which was why he was usually the first to leave his own birthday party.

His friends thankfully didn’t mind, had so far refrained from getting him a stripper as a present and always made sure that Musichetta made her amazing chocolate cake for him.

After a while, Combeferre’s phone chimed and he checked his messages, no emotion showing on his face as he turned to Enjolras. “Maybe you should get dressed.”

“Why?” Enjolras asked. Quite frankly, he just wanted to sit in his bed with Combeferre for as long as possible. “We’re not going out until later, are we?”

Combeferre bit his lip. “Well, no, but I think you might still want to get dressed.”

“Is that part of the mysterious present thing?” Enjolras asked, eyebrows raised.

“Maybe,” Combeferre said, grinning now.

Well, it seemed that he didn’t really have much of a choice here. “Okay, I’ll go take a shower,” Enjolras mumbled and crawled out of bed.

* * *

“Grantaire, over here!”

Grantaire looked around and saw Courfeyrac waving at him excitedly. He was grinning broadly, and Grantaire was starting to think that maybe that was just Courfeyrac’s default setting.  

He was glad that he’d found him so quickly. As Grantaire had expected, he’d spent most of the flight nervously shifting in his seat, had tried to watch a movie but had quickly given up, had then conjured up all kinds of horror scenarios in his head and had consequently not slept for even just a second.

Now he was damn close to falling asleep right where he stood and really wouldn’t have had the patience to spend ages on looking for Courfeyrac. Because, as it turned out, airports were huge. Actually, Grantaire had nearly got lost on the way to his plane in New York and he really hadn’t been keen on reliving that experience in Paris whilst looking for Courfeyrac.

“Hello,” Grantaire said as he approached him. “Thank you for picking me up.”

“It’s really not a problem,” Courfeyrac said, his accent a lot more apparent than Enjolras’. “It’s so nice to finally meet you… in person.”

Grantaire laughed. “Ditto.”

“How was your flight?” Courfeyrac asked and gave him a brief hug.

“Okay, I guess,” Grantaire mumbled.

“Great,” Courfeyrac said and took him by the arm, leading him away. “Did you get some sleep on the plane?”

Grantaire bit his lip. “Not really.”

“Are you nervous?” Courfeyrac asked with a sympathetic smile. “You really have no reason to be. Enjolras is always grumpy on his birthday, but once he sees you he’ll be _so_ happy, I swear. Man, I’m so glad you could make it.”

Courfeyrac kept chattering idly as he led Grantaire to his car, a tiny Renault, and took care of stuffing Grantaire’s suitcase into the trunk.

“I just have to tell Combeferre that you’re here,” Combeferre said and beckoned Grantaire to sit down in the passenger seat. “He has to make sure that Enjolras gets out of bed.”

Grantaire only nodded and took a seat, trying to somehow keep his nervousness under control. Everything was going to be fine, Courfeyrac was going to take him where he needed to go, all he had to do was follow him. Still, everything around him was French, everything was unfamiliar, and even though he was excited beyond belief, because he was in Paris, because he was going to see Enjolras, he also couldn’t quite push down the anxiety.

“You can sleep if you want,” Courfeyrac said as he started the car, “it’s going to take a while to get to our apartment.”

“It’s okay,” Grantaire said, shaking his head. “I’m not that tired.”

Courfeyrac hummed, then they fell silent, but he soon spoke up again. “Well, um, we basically live in the middle of the city. Enjolras has an apartment there.”

Grantaire frowned. “Wait, I thought you guys live together?”

“Oh, we do,” Courfeyrac said, “but the apartment belongs to Enjolras.”

“He _owns_ it?” Grantaire asked. He wasn’t sure how much apartments in the middle of Paris cost, but he was pretty damn sure that they weren’t cheap.

“He never told you that?” Courfeyrac sighed. “Well, he doesn’t like talking about his family.”

“Yeah, he really doesn’t.” Grantaire hardly knew a thing about what Enjolras’ parents did for a living, or where he was from, he only knew that he didn’t get along with them too well, so he usually tried not to bring them up. He was pretty sure that he’d never told Enjolras anything about his own family either. There wasn’t much to tell anyway.

“Well, his family is sort of…” Courfeyrac paused. “Rich,” he finished, his voice a mere whisper.

“They’re rich?” Grantaire asked. He really wasn’t sure what to think. He’d obviously known that Enjolras probably didn’t have financial problems, but _not having financial problems_ and _being rich_ were two different things entirely.

“His parents are,” Courfeyrac said slowly. “And Enjolras really doesn’t like asking them for money, but they got him the apartment when he started university and he shares it with us, because it’s ridiculously big. Don’t be angry at him, okay?”

“Why would I be angry?” Grantaire asked. If there was one thing he understood then it was how complicated relationships with parents could be.

“Well, because technically he could visit you… all the time. He’d just have to ask his parents for the money, but as I said, he really hates asking them for money.”

Grantaire hadn’t even thought of it that way. “No, I mean, I get it,” he said lowly. Or at least he thought he did. He’d never had a lot of money, but he was certain that he’d rather find a third job than ask his parents for money. Not that his parents had any money to give to him anyway.

“Good,” Courfeyrac said. “Just forget I said anything, okay?”

“Okay,” Grantaire mumbled and then took to staring out the window. They were making their way into the city, not very quickly, but at least that gave Grantaire more time to look.

By the time Courfeyrac parked the car, Grantaire was in love. He was in love with the city, the buildings, the little shops and cafés – he couldn’t wait to go exploring. Hopefully together with Enjolras.

“Courfeyrac,” Grantaire said before they got out of the car, “what’s the plan? I mean, is there a plan?”

“Right, the plan,” Courfeyrac said and clapped his hands. “I’m going to text Combeferre and tell him that we’re here and he’ll make sure that Enjolras stays in his room while you and I go up to the apartment. Then I’m going to wrap a big red bow around you and-”

“A bow?” Grantaire interrupted. “Really?”

“Well, maybe we don’t need the bow,” Courfeyrac said. He quickly typed out a message on his phone, then he grinned at Grantaire. “Follow me.”

Courfeyrac insisted on taking care of his suitcase and led him down the street, pointing out a little bakery that he liked, a bar they went to sometimes, a Metro station “down the street there”, and Grantaire wasn’t even sure what to look at first. He eventually stopped dead in front of a building that basically screamed “wealthy people live here”. Grantaire took a deep breath. He was really, actually here.

“Are you ready to go in?” Courfeyrac asked.

“No,” Grantaire whispered.

“I can give you a minute, but I can promise you that Combeferre will only be able to keep Enjolras in his room for a very limited amount of time.”

“Right.” Grantaire cleared his throat. “Let’s go.”

* * *

Combeferre checked his phone again, smiling this time. “Are you ready?”

“Ready for what?” Enjolras asked. He’d showered and he’d got dressed and now he was reading the news on his laptop and he really wasn’t in the mood to move.

Combeferre smirked. “Your present.”

“Oh,” Enjolras only said. “I guess I am. Unless you got me a stripper, in which case I’m definitely not ready and probably will never be.”

“It’s not a stripper,” Combeferre assured him.

“So, do we wait for Courfeyrac?” Enjolras asked. This whole present thing, as mysterious as it was, was also starting to unsettle him a little. They usually didn’t make such a big deal about presents.

“Yes, we’ll have to wait in here for a bit.”

“Really?” Enjolras asked, rolling his eyes.

“He’ll be up in a bit,” Combeferre said. “And it’s not like you were going to move anyway.”

Combeferre did have a point. Enjolras sighed and kept reading, barely noticing when the front door opened. Courfeyrac came bursting into his room only a couple of minutes later, bouncing up and down on his bed.

“Happy birthday!” Courfeyrac yelled and took his laptop away from him. “You have to come with me.”

Enjolras reluctantly stood up, sighing deeply when Courfeyrac covered his eyes with his hands. “Is that really necessary?” he asked as Courfeyrac slowly walked him down the hall.

“It is,” Courfeyrac whispered.

When they’d reached the living room, Courfeyrac let go of him and pushed him inside, yelled _happy birthday_ one more time and then slammed the door shut behind him.

Enjolras was pretty sure that he was hallucinating for a second, because Grantaire was sitting on his couch. Grantaire, who should be in New York, was right here in his apartment, smiling at him nervously. “You… Grantaire… you’re…”

“Wow, you’re speechless, I didn’t think that was even possible,” Grantaire said and slowly got to his feet. “Surprise,” he added and took a step closer.

“You’re here,” Enjolras said and crossed the distance between them just to make sure that he wasn’t dreaming, pulling Grantaire into his arms and holding him tightly.

“I am,” Grantaire whispered. His face was pressed into Enjolras’ sweater and he was clinging to him just as tightly and didn’t seem to be planning on letting go of him any time soon. Enjolras certainly wasn’t going to complain.

Enjolras eventually pulled away to kiss him, trying to somehow make up for all the months he hadn’t got to kiss him and then guided Grantaire back to the couch, where they sat down, still tangled together, Enjolras’ head tucked under Grantaire’s chin.

“So, how’s your birthday so far?” Grantaire asked, running his fingers through Enjolras’ hair.

“It’s already better than all the others,” Enjolras mumbled. He sat up a little, only as far as Grantaire would let him with his arms still wrapped around him. “Can I just ask… how long have you known?”

“That I’d come here?” Grantaire asked, his voice quiet.

“Yes, I mean Combeferre and Courfeyrac obviously knew about it, and I was just wondering for how long you’ve been planning this.”

Grantaire hummed. “A while,” he said eventually. “Courfeyrac texted me a couple of months ago and asked if I could come.”

“ _Months_?” Enjolras echoed. “But-”

“I know I lied to you a lot,” Grantaire interrupted. “And I’m really sorry about that, but this was meant to be a surprise, so I couldn’t tell you, I wanted to, I promise, I nearly did when we were talking at Christmas.”

Enjolras remembered that, he remembered telling Grantaire that he’d do anything to have him here. “Well, it was a good surprise,” he said and leaned down to give Grantaire a quick kiss.

“I’m glad,” Grantaire whispered against his lips.

“So, you came here for my birthday,” Enjolras said slowly. “But for how long are you staying?”

“Ten days. I wanted to stay for longer, but my boss at the café said that she couldn’t spare me for any longer.” Grantaire shrugged. “Sorry about that.”

“No, don’t apologize,” Enjolras said. Ten days was great, he could work with that. Maybe he’d been hoping that it’d be more, but he had obligations, too, so he’d have to be happy with what he had.

Grantaire smiled again. “Anyway, I figured you’d have to go to college.”

“Right,” Enjolras said. He’d almost forgot about that. “Not until Monday, though. So we can do whatever you want all weekend.”

“I do believe that we already have plans for today,” Grantaire said.

“Nothing that can’t be cancelled.”

“No, you’re not gonna cancel your birthday party.”

“It’s not a party,” Enjolras told him. Or at least he hoped that it wouldn’t be. “It’s more like a… gathering.”

Grantaire grinned. “Oh, am I gonna meet your friends?”

“Probably,” Enjolras said. “Unless you don’t want to. Because I really have zero problems with cancelling that… gathering.”

“No, seriously,” Grantaire said sternly, “it’s your birthday, we have to celebrate.”

“Fine,” Enjolras muttered. Grantaire being there would make the whole thing one hundred percent more bearable.  Grantaire yawned a little and Enjolras felt a little guilty all of a sudden because he hadn’t really let go of him in about an hour and Grantaire was obviously tired and maybe he wanted to take a nap or a shower and maybe he was hungry. Enjolras bit his lip. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even ask… do you need anything? Do you want something to eat or a cup of tea?”

Grantaire shook his head and yawned again.

“A nap maybe?” Enjolras asked.

“Maybe that’s not such a bad idea,” Grantaire mumbled. “If you don’t mind?”

“No, it’s alright,” Enjolras said and pulled him to his feet. “We’ll just have to get past Combeferre and Courfeyrac first.”

* * *

Grantaire stepped out of the shower and wrapped the towel Enjolras had got him around his waist. It had been a quick shower, because he’d been a little scared that he might fall asleep. He’d nearly tugged Enjolras into the bathroom with him, but he’d got here less than two hours ago and he thought that maybe it would have been a little too soon for that.

He quickly dried himself off, tried to towel his hair dry as best as he could, and slipped into a pair of boxers and a shirt and padded across the hall, back to Enjolras’ room.

Grantaire could hear Combeferre and Courfeyrac talk down the hall, probably in the kitchen, loud enough for him to understand had his French been better. He’d have to thank them later, for everything they’d done, but right now he just wanted to go straight back to Enjolras.

He was already waiting for him, sitting on his bed, a massive textbook in his lap.

“You’re studying on your birthday,” Grantaire said and jumped onto Enjolras’ bed. “I really can’t let you do that.” He snatched the book away from him and straddled Enjolras’ hips. “Sorry,” he whispered and bent down until he was close enough for their noses to brush.

“You know, I might have to skip a couple of classes next week, I just want to make sure I don’t miss too much,” Enjolras mumbled, his hands wandering along Grantaire’s sides, down to his ass.

Grantaire smirked. “I see,” he said and nipped at Enjolras’ bottom lip. “Seriously, though,” he added and withdrew a little, “just do whatever you’d do if I hadn’t shown up. I don’t want you to ditch classes because of me.”

“We’ll see,” Enjolras said and pulled him back down. “You’re dripping,” he added and tugged at one of his wet curls.

“Sorry about that,” Grantaire mumbled and gave him another very lazy kiss, then he let himself drop down onto the mattress next to Enjolras. Now was probably a good time to stop pretending that he didn’t struggle with keeping his eyes open. “About that nap…”

Enjolras laughed quietly. “Go ahead, I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

“What, you’re not going to take a nap with me?” Grantaire asked and stuck out his bottom lip. “How disappointing.”

“I’ll be sitting right next to you,” Enjolras said.

Grantaire hummed and wiggled his way under Enjolras’ bedsheets, smiling when Enjolras did the same.

“Okay,” Enjolras said, “but you have to be the big spoon.”

“I can live with that,” Grantaire whispered and curled himself around Enjolras as best as he could. “Wake me up when we have to go to that birthday party of yours, okay?”

“It’s not a party,” Enjolras grumbled, but Grantaire could hear the smile in his voice.

Grantaire snorted and closed his eyes, snuggled a little closer so his face was pressed into the soft fabric of Enjolras’ sweater and quickly fell asleep.

Grantaire jerked awake again a while later when there was a loud clattering sound. He didn’t even know where he was at first and it took him a couple of seconds to realize that he wasn’t home in New York, but in Paris. He was still curled around Enjolras, who looked around when Grantaire sat up. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up,” Enjolras said and tugged him back down. “I just dropped my phone,” he added and bent down to fish his phone off the floor. “Go back to sleep.”

Grantaire hummed. “I’m good,” he mumbled and pulled Enjolras back against him.

They lay in silence for a while, Grantaire holding Enjolras tightly, their fingers intertwined. Grantaire had known before, but now he was sure, that no matter how scared and anxious he’d been, it had all been worth it. Jehan had been right, he was okay now. He was happy.

“Grantaire,” Enjolras whispered after a while. “Are you awake?”

“Hm, yeah.”

“Thank you for coming.”

Grantaire smiled. “No problem at all.” He reached up to brush Enjolras’ curls out of the way, so he could plant little kisses on the back of Enjolras’ neck.

Enjolras was soon starting to let out happy sighs and turned his head so Grantaire could kiss him properly, his hands slowly wandering down Enjolras’ chest to the hem of his shirt, tugging it up just a little, his fingers dancing across the soft skin of Enjolras’ stomach. Enjolras squirmed, laughing quietly, half-heartedly batting at Grantaire’s hand.

Grantaire twined their fingers together again and gently nipped at Enjolras’ neck. It was all just wandering hands and soft kisses and content noises for a while until Enjolras hummed and pushed Grantaire’s hand down until he got the idea.

“How much time do we have?” Grantaire asked. He didn’t want to rush this, not after they’d been apart for so long.

“More than enough,” Enjolras mumbled, and swiftly wiggled out of his jeans and pulled off his shirt.

Grantaire got rid of his own shirt and let Enjolras help him tuck off his boxers, quickly followed by Enjolras’ briefs. Grantaire pulled Enjolras flush against him, kissing him again, slowly, letting his hands roam, down his spine, following the curve of his ass, while Enjolras clung to him, his face hidden in the crook of Grantaire’s neck, panting softly.

Grantaire traced Enjolras’ freckles with his fingers, smiling when Enjolras’ breath tickled his skin, then Enjolras pulled him into another kiss, a slow slide of tongues that seemed to last forever. Grantaire was sure that he’d never been with anyone like this – it felt so strangely intimate, the two of them curled around each other, skin on skin, their foreheads touching, their lips brushing now and again.

Enjolras’ touches always stayed gentle, but there was purpose behind them. Grantaire could see him smile every time his breath caught, every time a content sound escaped his lips. Enjolras bucked his hips against Grantaire’s, and Grantaire let out a drawn-out moan, fingers digging into Enjolras’ sides. “Enjolras,” Grantaire mumbled against Enjolras’ lips, “do you want to…”

“Just a second,” Enjolras muttered, kissed the tip of his nose and turned over to rummage through his nightstand.

Grantaire passed the time by letting his fingers wander up Enjolras’ thighs, then his sides, smirking when Enjolras shivered. He shifted closer, his dick brushing against Enjolras’ ass, which was followed by a whispered “fuck” from Enjolras.

Grantaire was starting to get a little impatient now, bucked his hips and sucked a bruise into the skin of Enjolras’ neck. “Enjolras, leave it, I can just…” He trailed off and reached around Enjolras, slowly stroking his cock.

Enjolras moaned, and he didn’t sound like he was opposed, but fished a bottle of lube and a condom out of his nightstand only a couple of seconds later. “There you go,” he whispered as he handed it to Grantaire.

Enjolras stayed on his side, his face buried in his pillow in a futile attempt to muffle his moans as Grantaire prepared him, curling his fingers just so every now and then, relishing the whimpers that dropped from Enjolras’ lips.

“Do you want to stay like this?” Grantaire asked and quickly rolled on the condom that Enjolras had handed him.

Enjolras only hummed in reply, which Grantaire took as a yes. He pushed in slowly, listened for every noise Enjolras made and wrapped an arm around him, pulling Enjolras against him, planting a kiss on Enjolras’ shoulder blade. The position was a little awkward at first, but Grantaire sound figured out the merits of it.

He rolled his hips slowly, trying to draw this out as long as he possibly could. He’d missed this, had missed being close to Enjolras, in every possible way, had missed touching him and seeing him, not on his laptop screen but for real. “Fuck, Enjolras, I missed you, I missed you so much.”

“Grantaire…” Enjolras pushed back against him. “Please, Grantaire.”

Grantaire sped up his thrusts then and curled his fingers around Enjolras’ cock, trying to keep his strokes in time with his thrusts, but didn’t manage to keep it up for long. He was close and he could tell Enjolras was, too. He was way past all coherency, only made little whimpers and moans and soon came, Grantaire following right behind him.

Neither of them moved for a few moments. Grantaire stayed completely still with his face buried in Enjolras’ curls, listening as Enjolras’ breath slowly evened out.

Eventually, Enjolras let out a happy sigh. “I missed you, too, by the way.”

Grantaire pulled away, smiling, quickly tied up the condom and tossed it into the trashcan next to Enjolras’ desk. He let himself fall back onto the mattress and Enjolras rolled over to snuggle against him, swiftly pulling up the sheets around them.

Now Grantaire felt well-rested and was finally awake enough to look around Enjolras’ room. It was tidy, except for his desk, which was laden with stacks of books and loose sheets of paper, his laptop peeking out from under them. There was a pin board on the wall, covered with photographs of Enjolras’ friends, and Grantaire could even spy one of himself and Enjolras in New York.

Before Grantaire could take a closer look at Enjolras’ bookshelf, though, he was distracted by Enjolras nuzzling at his neck. “I can still call off the party.”

“Stop using me as an excuse to cancel your birthday party,” Grantaire said and poked Enjolras in the ribs.

Enjolras giggled and kissed his jaw. “You’re stubbly.”

“I can shave if you want,” Grantaire mumbled.

“Please don’t,” Enjolras said quietly. Grantaire could feel him smile against his skin. “This is nice.”

“I know, right?” Grantaire said and turned over to kiss him. “Very nice,” he said between kisses. “I don’t understand why we don’t do this more often.”

Enjolras hooked a leg around him and bumped his nose against Grantaire’s. “We still have about half an hour until we need to get out of bed.”

“Half an hour, huh?”

* * *

Enjolras had to admit that his birthday party wasn’t all that bad. Musichetta had made him the greatest cake he’d ever tasted, Joly and Bossuet seemed to be getting along wonderfully with Grantaire, and he didn’t even mind that Courfeyrac and Combeferre were being disgustingly sweet right next to him.

Courfeyrac leaned a little closer after a while, nudging him. “You’re enjoying yourself, aren’t you?”

Maybe he was, but he’d never admit it in a thousand years. Enjolras only shrugged and took a sip of his drink.

“I thought so,” Courfeyrac said, nodding knowingly. “So,” he continued, his voice quiet now, “did you know that our walls are really thin?”

“I did know that, yes,” Enjolras said. He’d tried to be quiet, he’d really tried, but obviously he just hadn’t tried hard enough.

Courfeyrac laughed nervously. “Have they… always been?”

Enjolras nodded. “Yep.”

“So you…”

“Heard my two best friends having incredibly loud sex in the next room? Yeah.”

“Oh shit, Enjolras, you should have said something.”

“It was fine until I lost my earplugs.” He shrugged. “You know, Combeferre knows how thin the walls are.”

“What?” Courfeyrac said, turning to Combeferre, who remained suspiciously silent.

“He was the one I always complained to during our first year of university,” Enjolras told him. “You know, when you kept bringing home all those people.”

“Fantastic,” Courfeyrac said, smiling brightly and chugged down his drink. “I think I need another one.”

“I didn’t think you’d mind me knowing about… you know.”

“Well, I don’t,” Courfeyrac said. “But I do. I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“It’s okay, Courf, really.”

“Anyway,” Combeferre threw in, nudging Courfeyrac, “I have a feeling that Enjolras is going to take revenge on us while Grantaire is here.”

Enjolras grinned and looked over to where Grantaire was laughing with Joly and Bossuet, who seemed to be getting one free drink after another from Musichetta.

“Maybe we should move out until Grantaire leaves again,” Courfeyrac whispered, loud enough for Enjolras to hear, too.

“Guys,” Enjolras said, turning back to look at his friends. “Thanks.” He wanted to tell them how much this meant to him, how happy he was to have Grantaire here, that he could never thank them enough, but a simple _thanks_ seemed to be all he could manage for now.

Courfeyrac put an arm around and gave him a squeeze. “You’re very welcome.”

Grantaire returned to him not too much later, gave him a kiss on the cheek and then made an attempt at conversing with Combeferre in French, which was equally adorable and hilarious, because Grantaire’s pronunciation actually wasn’t half bad, it was just that he kept mixing up words and Combeferre’s lips were twitching dangerously every time it happened.

About half an hour before midnight Grantaire was starting to yawn, although Enjolras could tell that he was trying his best to hide it. He smiled and put an arm around Grantaire’s waist to pull him back over to him.

Combeferre only laughed when their conversation was so rudely interrupted. Grantaire grinned and raised his eyebrows. “Are you feeling neglected?” he asked.

“A little,” Enjolras said, even though he’d actually been busy following Joly’s and Bossuet’s argument about getting another cat. They had four already.   

“Well, I’ll pay attention to you now,” Grantaire said, letting his fingers wander up Enjolras’ thigh.

“You’re tired, aren’t you?” Enjolras asked lowly. “We can go home if you want.”

“It’s alright, I don’t mind staying a little longer,” Grantaire said with a shrug. “Unless you want to go home.”

Enjolras hummed. He did want to go home and curl up in bed again and fall asleep in Grantaire’s arms. But he knew that leaving his birthday party before his birthday was over was generally a bad idea, so they each ordered another drink. Enjolras sipped his quietly while Joly showed Grantaire pictures of his cats, telling him to come by to say hello sometime.

By the time midnight rolled around, Grantaire’s eyelids kept drooping shut, but he did his very best not to fall asleep on Enjolras, who was definitely grateful for the effort he was making, but eventually nudged him gently. “Let’s head home, okay?”

“Are you sure you don’t want to-”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Enjolras said firmly and pulled him to his feet. “Guys, we’re gonna go home.”

“Already?” Joly asked, tugging at Enjolras shirt and sticking out his bottom lip before he burst into giggles. “Well, see you at the Corinthe on Monday.”

“We’ll stay a bit longer,” Combeferre said, smiling up at them.

They waved goodbye, Enjolras made sure to thank Musichetta for the cake before they left, then he tugged Grantaire outside.

“Do you want to walk or take the Metro?” Enjolras asked.

“Let’s walk,” Grantaire said, squeezing his hand.

They had to stop a couple of times, because Grantaire tried to kiss him while they were still walking, which didn’t work out too well, but they eventually made it back to his apartment. Enjolras also had a little trouble unlocking the door, because Grantaire was right behind him on his tiptoes, kissing his neck.

They stumbled inside, kissing all the way back to Enjolras’ room, tumbling onto his bed, both of them still fully clothed and laughing. Enjolras’ feet were still dangling off the bed, Grantaire was half on top of him, his head pillowed on his chest and an arm wrapped around his waist.

Enjolras let out a quiet sigh and let his eyes flutter shut, briefly wondering if Grantaire could hear how quickly his heart was beating. Probably not through all his layers of clothing.

“Wow, and I thought _I_ was tired,” Grantaire mumbled. “Come on, let’s get you out of these,” he continued and tugged at Enjolras’ coat, “then we can sleep.”

“Sleep,” Enjolras echoed, grinning when Grantaire sat up and started unbuttoning Enjolras’ coat and then tried to peel off his jeans.

“You know, I’m the one who hasn’t slept all night and is jetlagged as fuck,” Grantaire said as he shucked off his own jacket and toed off his shoes. He then went back to ridding Enjolras of his clothes, mumbling quietly as he did. “Well, I guess it’s sort of still your birthday, so you get special treatment.” He pulled Enjolras into an upright position so he could tug off his coat and sweater. “You know what,” he added and pushed Enjolras down onto the bed again, toying with the hem of his boxers, “I think these need to go, too.”

“I thought we were going to sleep,” Enjolras mumbled. He was dead tired, even though he hadn’t done anything particularly strenuous all day. Because sex probably didn’t count as something strenuous.

“We are,” Grantaire said, laughing quietly, “but that doesn’t change that I really like looking at you naked.”

“Hm, I see,” Enjolras said, grinning when Grantaire finally slid off his boxers. “You should take yours off, too, it’s only fair.”

“I agree,” Grantaire said, quickly took off the rest of his clothes and switched off the lights before he crawled into bed with him. “Don’t hate me if I fall asleep right this second.”

“I do appreciate that you stripped for me first,” Enjolras muttered and pulled Grantaire as close as he possibly could. He usually wore pajamas, especially in winter, but with Grantaire here he’d be warm enough, no doubt about it.

Grantaire chuckled and huddled against him, sighing deeply, and mumbled something Enjolras didn’t quite get. He kissed Grantaire’s forehead and got another unintelligible mumble in return. Grantaire soon drifted off to sleep, snoring softly, and Enjolras, even though he thought he would fall asleep just as quickly as Grantaire, stayed awake for a little while longer, watching Grantaire in the dim light that filtered in through the curtains.

He heard the front door open a while later, heard Courfeyrac and Combeferre giggle in the hallway, but he fell asleep eventually, his face buried in Grantaire’s mop of unruly curls.

He woke up wrapped around Grantaire, Grantaire’s head tucked under his chin now. He slowly untangled himself from Grantaire, who made a displeased noise and curled his fingers around his wrist.

“I’m just going to get breakfast,” Enjolras whispered and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

“Are you getting croissants?” Grantaire muttered. He cracked an eye open, smirking up at him.

“Sure,” Enjolras said. “Anything else you want?”

“You to come back.” Grantaire tugged at his wrist, pulling him back into bed.

“I haven’t even left yet,” Enjolras muttered, but gave Grantaire a kiss to appease him. Grantaire hummed happily and stole another kiss, his hands gripping Enjolras’ hips to tip him over and rolling on top of him with a grin. “You know,” Enjolras said, “we’ll never get breakfast if you keep going like this.”

“Like what?” Grantaire asked and kissed the corner of his mouth.

Enjolras groaned, because he knew that his chances of getting out of bed any time soon were getting smaller and smaller. Not that he was complaining, he just wanted to make sure that Grantaire got a nice breakfast.

“The whole point in taking your clothes off last night was that I wouldn’t have to do it in the morning,” Grantaire muttered. “So I really can’t let you get dressed right now, you understand that, don’t you?”

“I thought you just liked seeing me naked,” Enjolras mused.

Grantaire smirked. “Yeah, that too,” he said and slowly started leaving a trail of kisses down Enjolras’ chest.

* * *

Grantaire wasn’t all that keen on getting out of bed, but when Enjolras suggested that Grantaire should maybe come and take a shower with him, he really couldn’t say no to that.

Combeferre and Courfeyrac seemed to still be in bed, although Grantaire wasn’t quite sure how their sleeping arrangements worked. He’d seen that they did have separate rooms when Enjolras had shown him the apartment the day before, but apparently they were only using one of the beds.

They went to get breakfast together and eventually ended up in Enjolras’ living room. Grantaire was nursing his third cup of coffee, but in his defense, he was still jetlagged. If he wanted to survive that day, he needed as much caffeine as he could get his hands on.

“So,” Enjolras asked, “what do you want to see?”

Grantaire grinned. “I came here to see you, you know?”

“Yeah, but you’ve seen plenty of me already,” Enjolras said, smiling faintly. “There must be something you want to see. The Eiffel Tower, or the Louvre? Notre Dame maybe?”

“Actually,” Grantaire said, remembering what he’d promised Jehan, “I need to get one of those little Eiffel Towers. Jehan wants one.”

“Sure, and I can show you the real Eiffel Tower,” Enjolras said.

“That one won’t fit in my suitcase, though.” Grantaire shrugged. As long as Enjolras was coming with him, he didn’t care that much about where they were going. Although he kind of did want to see the Eiffel Tower. “But yeah, we can go look at it.”

“We can even go up,” Enjolras suggested. “I think you’d like Montmartre, too.”

“Why don’t you just show me your favorite spots in the city?”

“I can do that,” Enjolras said, nodding slowly. “Although I do spend a lot of time at the university.”

“You can show me your university,” Grantaire mused.

Enjolras nodded, obviously still thinking. “And you like museums, don’t you?”

“But you don’t,” Grantaire said. “We were talking about your favorite spots, remember? Honestly, just take me to nice places. I’ll follow wherever you lead.”

Enjolras huffed out a laugh. “Fine. I just don’t want you to get bored.”

“I won’t be, I promise,” Grantaire said and gave him a quick kiss.

They wandered around Enjolras’ neighborhood for a bit, then Enjolras took him to the Eiffel Tower, Grantaire bought a miniature one in a little souvenir store, and afterwards they had lunch in a small café and Grantaire nearly had a stroke when Enjolras ordered their food in French.

It wasn’t that Grantaire hadn’t heard Enjolras speak French before, he did it all the time and every time he did Grantaire fell a little more in love with him. He also thought about how inappropriate it would be to ask him to talk dirty to him in French every single time, but he was always quick to push that thought to the far back of his mind.

In the afternoon they went to the Louvre, even though Grantaire protested that he could go on his own while Enjolras was in class.

“I want to show you,” Enjolras said, sticking out his bottom lip a little.

“You want to show me?” Grantaire asked. He was pretty sure that Enjolras was everything but an art aficionado.

“Well, I’ll show you where it is,” Enjolras said and took him by the hand. “And then you can tell me about the art.”

“But you’re not interested in art,” Grantaire insisted. “I really don’t mind-”

“Do you want to go without me?” Enjolras asked.

“No, I just have a feeling that you probably won’t enjoy yourself much, that’s all.”

“Good,” Enjolras said and tugged him onwards, “let’s go, then.”

Grantaire was pretty sure that Enjolras was starting to regret his persistence about two hours into their visit to the Louvre. He never uttered a single word of complaint, though, and only shook his head when Grantaire asked if he wanted to head home because Grantaire could always come back, and listened patiently when Grantaire went on and on about the paintings and statues he liked.

Sometimes, in moments like that, Grantaire thought that maybe he should have tried to get a scholarship for art school after all.

They didn’t leave the Louvre until they had to, Enjolras made a comment about not being sure whether or not his feet were still part of his body and Grantaire apologized with a languid kiss.

When they made it back to Enjolras’ apartment, they were greeted by a delicious smell emanating from the kitchen. Apparently Courfeyrac and Combeferre were much better at cooking than Enjolras and the four of them ended up having dinner together and sitting at the kitchen table, sharing stories until well past midnight.

It was chilly in Enjolras’ room when they finally curled up in bed, so Grantaire made a point in snuggling especially close to him that night.

Enjolras hummed happily and kissed his forehead. “If I go to class tomorrow morning, I’ll have to get up at seven,” he muttered, his fingers slowly wandering down Grantaire’s spine.

“Okay, you won’t mind if I just stay in bed and wait until you get back, right?”

“I could just… not go,” Enjolras mumbled.

“And how guilty would you feel all day if you didn’t go?” Grantaire asked, nuzzling into Enjolras’ hair. “Anyway, you can’t just not go to class all week.”

“You do have a point,” Enjolras mumbled. “You’ll be okay for breakfast, right? Courfeyrac will be here until noon, he can help you if you need anything.”

“I’ll be fine,” Grantaire said. Really, he knew how to pour milk over cereal. And Enjolras had already shown him where the cereal was, so he was pretty sure that he was sorted for breakfast. “Don’t worry, just go to class and do whatever you need to do.”

“Alright,” Enjolras whispered. “I’ll set my alarm, then.”

“Why are you taking morning classes anyway?”

“Because they’re interesting classes,” Enjolras said matter-of-factly. “It’s certainly not because I’m fond of getting up early, you know that as well as I do.”

“I sure do,” Grantaire said with a chuckle. He kissed Enjolras goodnight and fell asleep quickly and was rudely woken up much too early when Enjolras’ alarm rang in the morning.

Grantaire instinctively pulled him closer when Enjolras moved to get up, but let go of him eventually, smiling when Enjolras gave him a kiss before he slipped out of bed. He heard him rummage around the room a while later, cracked his eyes open when Enjolras came back over to say goodbye, and then curled up on Enjolras side on the bed, quickly drifting off to sleep again.

He woke up again about two hours later, yawned and stretched and then grabbed for his phone, glad that Enjolras had given him the password for the wifi, and sent a quick text to Jehan. Grantaire had only told him that he’d made it to Paris, other than that they hadn’t had much time to talk. Of course he wasn’t expecting an answer, but he was sure that he’d get one in the span of a couple of hours.

Since he still wasn’t feeling like getting up just yet, so he sent another text, this time to Enjolras.

_You: are you in class_

Enjolras replied only a minute later.

_Enjolras: Yes._

_Enjolras: Do you need anything?_

_You: no i just woke up and i wanted to tell you that i’m still in your bed_

_You: naked_

_You: thinking about you_

_Enjolras: Really, this again? Didn’t you torture me enough with inappropriate texts while I was at work in New York?_

_Enjolras: And where did your clothes disappear to anyway?_

_You: okay maybe i lied about the being naked part_

_You: but_

_You: hypothetically_

_You: if i were naked_

_You: i’m really just wondering_

_You: how would you feel if i jerked off in your bed_

_Enjolras: For Christ’s sake._

_Enjolras: I’m turning off my phone._

_You: no enjolras come on_

_You: i need an answer_

Grantaire didn’t get one, so he only snorted quietly, hopped out of bed and went to get breakfast. He ran into Courfeyrac in the kitchen, cheerful as always, and Grantaire was seriously starting to wonder if he ever wasn’t looking ridiculously happy.

Grantaire spent the rest of the morning talking to Courfeyrac, who kept him entertained by showing him old photos of Enjolras, then he had to leave for classes, but Grantaire was only alone for about half an hour.

Enjolras came stomping into the apartment, grabbed Grantaire who’d been about to get himself some water from the kitchen by the wrist and dragged him down the hall and into his bedroom.

“You have to stop sending me texts like that,” Enjolras said resolutely and kissed him.

“But it’s so much fun,” Grantaire protested, but only half-heartedly. He huffed out a laugh when Enjolras pushed him over to the bed and pinned him to the mattress.

“Yeah, it’s fun for _you_ ,” Enjolras said. “It’s not fun when you’re sitting in a lecture and you’re supposed to pay attention but find that you can’t because all you can think about is your boyfriend doing… unspeakable things in your bed while you’re not around.”

Grantaire smirked. “Unspeakable things, huh?”

Enjolras rolled his eyes and sat back, still straddling Grantaire’s hips, looking down at him with a soft smile.

They ended up staying in bed until Combeferre came back two hours later, then Grantaire and Enjolras went on a walk and Grantaire tugged Enjolras into little stores, refrained from buying a lot of knickknack that he didn’t need and didn’t have the money for either, and in the evening they ended up at the Corinthe – as Grantaire learned, Joly’s and Bossuet’s favorite bar, which was well known for its cheap drinks and atrocious food.

Grantaire liked it there, liked it even more because Joly and Bossuet were buying him drink after drink and Enjolras was sitting next to him, one hand on his thigh, tapping out irregular patterns with his fingers. It almost seemed like he was nervous for some reason.

Later, when they were heading back, Grantaire asked him if something was wrong, but Enjolras only smiled and shook his head, so Grantaire decided to let it go.

* * *

Enjolras tried his hardest to spend as much time with Grantaire as he possibly could. He didn’t go to most of his lectures, knowing he’d have to work through the material the following week, but the hours he got to spend with Grantaire, whether they were spent wandering around Paris or curled up in bed, were more important than anything else.

He didn’t set foot into the library, didn’t spend a minute on doing homework that could wait, however, he didn’t cancel their weekly meeting at the Musain.

As it turned out the latter was a mistake, since Grantaire seemed to think that the whole thing was hilarious. He didn’t a say a word all the while, only sat in a corner with a smirk on his face like this was somehow funny to him. Enjolras suddenly felt remembered of how they’d met in the first place, remembered that Grantaire thought what he did was good for nothing.

They left early – as soon as the meeting had come to a close. If anyone was surprised that Enjolras waved goodbye and pulled Grantaire outside right after, no one was too obvious about it.

“You’re angry,” Grantaire said lowly as they walked down the mostly empty street.

Enjolras only huffed. It wasn’t that he was angry, it was just that he kept thinking that he should have known better.

“What did I do?”

“You think…” Enjolras sighed. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to argue and I know how cynical you can be and I shouldn’t have expected you to be…” He shrugged.

“To be what?” Grantaire asked.

“Supportive, I guess?” Enjolras finished, and the second the words left his mouth he knew it had been the wrong thing to say, because Grantaire looked genuinely hurt for a second, but he quickly caught himself.

“You know what I’m like. You know where I come from. And I don’t blame you for wanting to change things, but I just don’t think that you ever will.”

“That doesn’t mean that I’ll stop trying,” Enjolras said angrily.

“Good,” Grantaire said and held out his hand.

Enjolras knew he couldn’t and shouldn’t expect an apology from Grantaire for being the way he was, so he reached out and took it, wordlessly leading Grantaire back home. They could have a long talk about this, about why Grantaire behaved the way he did, why he wouldn’t give Enjolras a chance to show him that chance wasn’t entirely impossible.

But Grantaire liked to hide behind a wall and believe that the word was cruel and although Enjolras was itching to open his mouth and try to get through to him, he didn’t.

“You’re still mad at me,” Grantaire said when Enjolras unlocked the front door for him. “I didn’t even say anything, what the hell did I do that was so bad?”

“It just seemed like you really weren’t taking us seriously,” Enjolras mumbled and tossed his keys into the little bowl by the door.

“Enjolras, you’re a group of over-privileged students who are trying to change the world with fancy words, how…” Grantaire bit his lip. “Sorry, that sounded bad, I mean-”

“Oh, it’s alright, I understand what you mean,” Enjolras snapped and pushed past Grantaire, stomping off to his room, slamming the door shut as loudly as he could manage.

Enjolras met people with the exact same attitude every week, maybe even every day, and he got upset every time, but he wasn’t upset right now. He was hurt. Because this was Grantaire, Grantaire whom he loved and who was always there for him, and he surely wasn’t asking too much if he also wanted Grantaire to be there for him now, even if they disagreed.

He paced up and down his room for a while, trying to calm himself down, wondering what the hell Grantaire was doing now, if he was still outside in the hallway. They fought often, but those weren’t serious fights, they were abruptly ended skype calls and almost instantaneous apologies, sometimes they even dissolved into harmless bickering before they could escalate.

This, well, this was different. It seemed that they just couldn’t go without fighting about something for long, but now was really the most unfortunate time. He only had a couple of days left with Grantaire and he wanted to make the most of them.

Enjolras marched back out into the hallway, but found it empty. He peered into the living room, where Grantaire was sitting on the sofa, knees drawn up to his chest, looking up when Enjolras walked inside.

“I’m sorry,” Grantaire mumbled when Enjolras sat next to him. “I’m an ass.”

Enjolras sighed and put an arm around him. “I’m sorry, too.” He leaned over to kiss Grantaire’s forehead. “Can we just… not argue while you’re here?”

“It’s worth a try,” Grantaire said and pulled him in for another kiss.

There were soon horizontal on the couch, Grantaire’s hands on Enjolras’ hips, keeping him close, Enjolras’ fingers tangled in Grantaire’s curls, pulling gently until Grantaire tilted his head back and Enjolras could suck bruises into his skin.

He didn’t hear the front door open when Courfeyrac and Combeferre got home, but he did hear Courfeyrac’s loud laugh when he came waltzing into the living room.

Enjolras looked up, knowing full well that he looked like a complete mess, grinning sheepishly when he saw Courfeyrac standing in the doorway. Combeferre joined him seconds later, looking equally amused.

“Hi, guys,” Grantaire said, pulling one hand out from under Enjolras’ shirt to wave at them.

“We tried to stay out longer, but Combeferre was tired,” Courfeyrac said apologetically.

“Sorry,” Combeferre mouthed and then vanished, his footsteps disappearing down the hall.

Courfeyrac grinned. “Well, carry on,” he said with a wink and then followed Combeferre.

Grantaire was quick to pull Enjolras down again and they stayed on the couch, kissing lazily now, at least until Grantaire’s fingers snuck past the waistband of his jeans, which was when Enjolras quickly scrambled off the couch and pulled Grantaire down the hall to his room.

* * *

Time was going by way too quickly. Grantaire had known from the beginning that ten days weren’t much, that it wasn’t nowhere near enough time, but now those few days were flying past even faster than he would have thought.

Sometimes Enjolras had to go to classes and Grantaire started getting up at the same time as Enjolras did, wandered around the city and went to museums while Enjolras was gone, and later picked him up at the university and they walked home together. Once he made dinner together with Combeferre, another time they all went out to dinner together, the next day they were invited over to Joly’s and were served the most amazing meal by Musichetta.

After they’d made it back home that night and Enjolras had already run off to the bathroom because he’d somehow managed to get whipped cream on his hair, Grantaire made an attempt at giving Courfeyrac some of the money back that they’d lent him to buy his plane tickets.

“Look, I don’t want this,” Courfeyrac said and handed the money right back to him. “And I can promise you that Combeferre doesn’t want it either,” he continued. “There’s a really nice restaurant just down the street, why don’t you take this money and take Enjolras there tomorrow night?”

“I feel bad for-”

“No,” Courfeyrac interrupted, shaking his head. “Don’t feel bad about this.” He sighed. “I know this must be weird for you, but it’s not like we paid for the whole thing, so can we just forget about this?”

Usually Grantaire didn’t like to depend on other people’s charity, but when he thought about it, if their roles were reversed, Grantaire wouldn’t accept any money from him either, so he let it go and asked Courfeyrac to tell him more about that restaurant instead.

He waited until Enjolras had emerged from the shower, wearing nothing but a towel, his hair still damp, smiling when he let himself fall onto bed next to Grantaire.

“How would you feel about going out?” Grantaire asked, slowly connecting little droplets of water on Enjolras’ chest with his fingertip. “You know, on a date. With me. Tomorrow night.”

Enjolras hummed happily, his eyes fluttering shut. “Sounds good.” He stayed very still for a while, didn’t make a sound, except for the occasional sigh or whimper when Grantaire kept his touches so light that he tickled him.

The next evening, Grantaire finally had a chance to wear the stupid black button-down that Jehan had made him bring and going by how wide Enjolras’ eyes went when he first saw him wear it, it did have the intended effect.

The restaurant Courfeyrac had recommended really was fantastic and even though it was freezing outside when they left later on, they decided to walk around for a little longer, their hands intertwined, their breath fogging in the cold air as they talked. Although it was Grantaire who did most of the talking.

It wasn’t that it was unusual that Enjolras was quiet sometimes, it just felt like something was off, much like a couple of days ago.

“Is everything okay?” Grantaire asked after a while.

“Yeah,” Enjolras muttered. “I just don’t want you to leave.”

Grantaire squeezed his hand, not sure what to say, so he just pulled him a little closer. Enjolras shivered a little and Grantaire tugged off his beanie so he could pull it over Enjolras’ curls. “Let’s head back to your place, okay? You’re freezing.”

“Okay,” Enjolras said and gave him a faint smile.

Enjolras’ apartment was quiet when they got back, so they snuck down the hall to Enjolras’ room as quietly as they could, stumbling a little in the darkness. Enjolras turned the lights on as soon as they’d made it to his room, his hands slowly running down Grantaire’s side.

“This shirt,” Enjolras said lowly, “is a very good shirt.”

“Why, thank you,” Grantaire muttered, only barely managing to suppress a moan when Enjolras’ cold fingers wandered down to the button of his jeans, basically the only decent-looking pair that he owned, and made quick work of the button and the zipper.

Enjolras nuzzled at his cock, which earned him Grantaire’s immediate attention. Enjolras grinned up at him before he pulled down his boxers, stroked him slowly a couple of times and then lightly sucked at the tip of his cock.

“You must really like that shirt,” Grantaire whispered, biting down a moan when Enjolras started sucking him off – not with much finesse but definitely with purpose. Enjolras hummed around his dick when Grantaire tangled his fingers in his hair, and even though Enjolras’ technique wasn’t the best in the general sense, he was still so, so good at this.

Grantaire was well aware that they were much too loud when they stumbled over to Enjolras’ bed and nearly tripped over Grantaire’s suitcase, both of them laughing when they tumbled into bed, and they were too loud when Grantaire returned the favor, too, but Enjolras didn’t seem to be bothered by it, so Grantaire decided that he didn’t care either, but promised himself that he’d apologize to Combeferre and Courfeyrac in the morning.

Later, when they were lying side by side in the darkness, Enjolras’ arm wrapped around his waist, Grantaire couldn’t sleep. He thought about how he’d have to get back on a plane that would take him away from Enjolras soon, and that he had no idea when or if he was going to come back.

He wanted to come back, he loved this city, and he caught himself thinking about New York and whether or not he wanted to stay there for the rest of his life. It was a dangerous thought, one that had occurred to him before, but that he’d tried to ignore. He couldn’t just move here, that much was clear, yet the thought of it kept sneaking up on him over and over again.

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” Grantaire mumbled into the darkness. He wasn’t even sure if Enjolras was still awake.

“What is?” Enjolras asked, his voice sleepy.

Grantaire sighed. “That I’m going home in two days and that we have no idea when we’ll see each other again.”

“We didn’t know last time either,” Enjolras muttered.

“But we knew that I was going to come visit you at some point.”

“Well, it’s my turn next, and I can promise you that I’ll come back to New York at some point as well.”

“I just… I want to know when. It’s easier when I know when I’ll see you.”

“Yeah, well, this time I didn’t know when either.” It sounded like he was only teasing him, but Grantaire knew that he had every right to be angry at him for not telling him.

“Sorry about that,” Grantaire said, rolling over so he could hide his face in the crook of Enjolras’ neck. “That wasn’t fair.”

Enjolras laughed quietly. “I’m just glad that you came.”

* * *

It was starting to get a problem that Enjolras didn’t seem to be able to let go of Grantaire at airports. Grantaire didn’t seem to be faring any better, though. He had his arms wrapped around Enjolras so tightly that he could barely breathe, but Enjolras didn’t mind much – he wanted to have Grantaire as close as possible anyway.

They weren’t talking this time, it wasn’t like either of them had anything to say anyway. They usually spent a lot of time talking and it wasn’t talking that they missed when they weren’t together.

Enjolras felt Grantaire shift in his arms. He was probably glancing at the clock again.

And apparently it was time for him to leave, because he slowly pulled away, a sad smile on his face. “Time to go.”

Enjolras nodded and leaned down to give him a kiss. He didn’t dare to think about when he’d get to do it again, just tried to enjoy it as much as possible for the few seconds that it lasted. “Let me know when you’re back.”

“I will,” Grantaire said, quickly reaching up to wipe at his eyes. “And I’ll see you…”

“Soon,” Enjolras said firmly. He didn’t know when and how, but _this summer_ and _by ransacking his savings account_ were definitely valid options. “Very soon.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> (Right now I'm planning on writing two (or maybe even three) more parts for this series as long as there are people who want to read them.)


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